Haunt Me - Loki
by Batsutousai
Summary: When the universe starts over, no can remember what came before. Except Loki. -FrostIron, character death-


**Title:** _Haunt Me ~ Loki_  
**Fandom:** Marvel (movie 'verse)  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Rating:** T  
**Pairings:** Loki/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, canon pairings  
**Warnings:** Angst, post-Ragnarok, character death  
**Summary:** When the universe starts over, no can remember what came before. Except Loki.  
**Disclaim Her:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**A/N:** Originally posted on tumblr as a response to a prompt given to me by mystatusquo. The prompt was **Haunt me and Loki (or maybe even a little frostiron? :D)**

((Tissue warning?))

-0-

_It was strange how many things have stayed the same, even though __**everything**__ has changed,_ Loki thought as he kicked blue feet against the branches of Yggdrasil. The Frost Giants had still gone to Midgard, still been forced back by Odin and his Æsir army. But when Odin had collected the Casket of Ancient Winters, he hadn't seen the silent child left in a corner, red eyes far too intelligent for its age. And so he had left with no Jötun child.

Loki seemed the only person in all of Jötunheim to remember their previous cycle, but that knowledge had allowed him to prove himself worthy to his true father, Laufey, and he quickly became the favoured son, in spite of his many 'disabilities'. Finally First Prince, and it was for a throne he didn't want.

He'd just come from his first visit to Asgard. There, he'd worn a more familiar skin and made friends with a young man he'd once called 'Brother', then 'enemy', then 'friend'. Thor and his friends had not recognised him, and Odin showed no interest in him when Loki had been dragged along to a feast. He'd been surprised to find that Sif was not among Thor's friends, and he wondered if it had been the fact that there was an argr prince that had given the warrior maiden the strength to demand her right to wield a sword. He was torn between sorrow and pleasure at her lack, having never cared for Thor's off-and-on lover.

There was nothing for it. He'd stayed a week, reminded himself what an absolute moron Thor had been at that age, then made back for Jötunheim by way of the secret paths of Yggdrasil. He sat on the branch between Midgard and Jötunheim, wanting to see if his lover had yet been reborn, yet knowing Anthony won't be for centuries, yet.

Loki had never claimed to be patient.

He sighed and got to his feet before turning back to Jötunheim; he had duties to attend to, and Helblindi likely already had a tirade ready for his absence.

Anthony had not been where Loki expected when he finally got to Midgard. It took him some time to look up the Stark family, given the limited technology of the era, but he did finally find them in a small townhouse. Maria and Howard screamed at each other of the head of a cowering child with watery brown eyes.

Loki watched for a month, discovering all he could about what had occurred to change the expected timeline. It turned out that the super soldier serum had failed, killing the subject it had been used on. Not Steve Rogers – who had apparently died when he was eight of pneumonia; Loki had taken a day to mourn a man that he'd called friend for only a brief time – but another soldier who had been willing to risk it all. The Allied forces had still managed to win, even without Rogers and his team of men, but they'd taken significantly more loss, and Howard Stark had taken a brunt of the backlash, as well as losing three of his two factories. He'd gone from self-made millionaire to middle class in the space of about two months, dragging his fiancée down with him and refusing to let her go when she thought to leave.

Loki's lover was growing up in a home far more abusive than during his previous life, and Loki ached for him. He did what he could – spells of calming to soothe Howard's temper, spells of cheer to win a smile out of Maria when Anthony came home with a report card to be proud of – but he couldn't be there all the time, not with his duties in Jötunheim. He hunted down James Rhodes and Virginia Potts, found a way for the three children to meet up in the middle of Central Park so Anthony could have friends, could have a support base.

When Loki came across a young Bruce Banner, lost in the middle of the city and easy prey for anyone who might think to take him, he spoke to the boy in a gentle voice and managed to lead him to where he knew Anthony and his friends played. And so Bruce joined their group, and when James' father found out he didn't have a home, he took young Bruce in and gave him a home and a family.

Loki went looking for Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, then. Natasha was easier to find, but harder to sneak away to New York, where the Potts family took her in without complaint, loving the chance to have two daughters with bright red hair. Clint, he found in an orphanage in Iowa, and he came along easily once Loki agreed to bring his brother with. Barney and Clint found home with an elderly neighbour of the Rhodes' who had always wanted children, but never been able to have them.

"Why did you bring them here?" Anthony asked one day, looking down at Loki from the tree the children always played in in the park.

"Because everyone needs a friend," Loki replied.

Anthony tilted his head curiously, brown eyes intelligent as Loki remembered, though those old memories were faded behind a much younger face. "Are you my friend?"

"If you wish me to be."

Anthony smiled briefly before frowning. "I don't know your name, though."

Loki paused, then shrugged and said, "I'm Loki. Loki Laufeyson."

Anthony smiled again. "Come up and play, Loki! There's room for big people, too. But only if you swear never to tell another big person."

"On my honour," Loki swore and joined the children in their play.

For years, Loki enjoyed life with the reincarnations of his friends and lover. And, then, Thor took the throne, Odin went into the Odinsleep, and the foolish temporary king came to Jötunheim to wage war. Many of Loki's kin died, including Helblindi, and Laufey was greatly wounded.

"Destroy them, my son," Laufey snarled on his deathbed.

Fárbauti waited until Laufey's breaths had faded to nothing before saying, "We will die without the Casket. Make peace or war, I care not, but bring that Casket home."

Loki nodded and left for Asgard. There, he walked amongst the people as an Æsir and listened to their hatred with a blank expression before he hunted down Thor, who welcomed him with open arms: "Loki! My old friend! It has been near a hundred cycles since last I saw you. And I am king, now!"

"That makes two of us," Loki replied coolly, dropping his Æsir skin.

The hall rippled with shock and horror, and Thor's blank stare was entirely worth the following moments when the Æsir king found his tongue and shouted, "_Kill him_!"

Loki had no trouble incapacitating those who attacked him, until it was only Thor, the Warriors Three, and some females of the court left standing. He raised an eyebrow at his once-brother and said, "Please don't think me so easy a target, Thor Odinson, as you found my people. I have long studied outside Jötunheim, and am capable of magics beyond the imaginings of any here. I come with a request for a treaty; my people's safety and continued survival for the life of everyone on this rock." And he smiled, teeth sharp and gleaming against blue skin and red eyes.

And Thor, bless the idiot, let out a roar and rushed Loki with Mjölnir raised.

Loki sighed and motioned a familiar spell. Thor shrank to the floor as a frog, Mjölnir dropping heavily to the ground next to him. Loki picked the frog up and shook his head. "You will never learn, will you?" he wondered quietly as he glanced around for the only other person with the power to sign such a treaty. "Lady Frigga, if you would? My people's survival for your son." He grimaced and dangled the squirming frog by one leg. "Though, why you would want him..."

The treaty was signed, and the Casket of Ancient Winters was returned to Jötunheim. Thor was put to rights and Loki left him for Odin's judgement, knowing well the Allfather's thoughts of Thor's actions.

When he finally found time to return to Midgard, he had to hunt down Anthony. He found his lover living with his friends in California, all together in one large house. Without the fate of a world and their harsh pasts hanging over their heads, they were full of laughter and love; they had become the family they had sometimes joked they were.

Anthony met him at the door with a hug. "Loki! Where have you _been_? You almost missed my wedding!"

_Wedding?_ Loki wondered with a pang. "Apologies," he said, voice smooth. "There were things I was required to see to, and this is the first chance I've had to get away."

"Well, you haven't missed it, so I'll forgive you. Come on in!"

Anthony married Virginia two days later, and the ceremony was quickly changed around so Loki could be Anthony's best man, at his insistence.

A year later, they had a son. Loki suggested they name him Steve, for a friend who had died before his time. They did.

Sometimes, it hurt, watching his lover with another, but Anthony was happy – they were _all_ happy – and Loki's people were safe and thriving under his rule.

And when the time for Ragnarok came again, the world didn't end. It continued on, and so did Loki, ruling Jötunheim and watching his Midgardian family live their lives and _thrive_.

Anthony was the last of his generation to die, laying peacefully in his own bed while his children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews gathered around. And Loki, invisible against the wall, shed a single tear as he watched his lover's last breath before he was taken away to Valhalla. Because he might not have died in battle in this life, but he was well remembered for his bravery in the last.

In the arms of the valkyries, young and healthy again, Anthony's spirit looked back at Loki and mouthed, 'I love you. Thank you.'

Loki smiled sadly and settled in to watch over Anthony's legacy and continue leading his people until such a time as Ragnarok finally came to pass and he could find his chance with Anthony again.

..


End file.
